Monthly Archives: July 2011

Welcome to the eightieth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with drama / theatre and short story author Gary Dooley. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here.

Morgen: Hello Gary. I know some of this already as we go to the same writing group but please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Gary: Falls at the first hurdle.

Morgen: Oh dear.

Gary: I always dread being asked this question because I find it difficult to put my background into a simple narrative.

Morgen: Sorry about that. :)

Gary: On my CV I try to sell the idea of having ‘diverse experience’ – actually this is a euphemism for ‘largely random employment’. In a nutshell, I was born and raised in Staffordshire. I trained as a psychologist then moved into biotechnology research. I spent most of my research career in Australia and the USA before moving back to the UK about ten years ago. My academic research paid most of the bills, but I always lead a bit of a double life moonlighting in the theatre as an actor, director and lately as a playwright. It’s only relatively recently that I decided to take the aspects of the ‘day job’ that I most enjoyed – the teaching and the writing – and marry them with my passion for the theatre. I still do some consulting and teaching but spend most of my time nowadays writing about, and for, theatre. I set up my own small publishing umbrella – iPSO FACTO publications – to produce all my work.

Morgen: And I’ve seen one; it’s very attractive. :) Why did you opt to go down the self-publishing route?

Gary: I’ve always loved books and I was fascinated with the whole process of book production, not just the writing. I wanted to get involved with the design, the typesetting, the marketing – all of it. My experience of having some of my academic work published was that, as an author, you rarely have any control or even input into these aspects.

Gary: Also, I didn’t want to put all my energies into courting publishers as many new authors seem to do.

Morgen: And usually… I was going to say “failing” but I don’t like that word so I’ll say “being unsuccessful”, although I’m not sure if that sounds much better. Sorry, you were saying…

Gary: So I started to look at self-publishing and discovered that it offered an interesting alternative to conventional publishing. Gone are the days when self-publishing was synonymous with vanity publishing, it is now a thriving industry. If you decide to go it alone like I did, it’s hard work and can be very frustrating but ultimately it can be rewarding as well. Things are definitely changing in the publishing world and now there are options for writers other than selling your soul to get a contract with one of the big publishers.

Morgen: Indeed – and they know it. :) Are you involved in all aspects of producing your books?

I do the typesetting, book design, marketing and all the graphic design work. The only part of the process that I outsource is proofreading, I don’t think you can ever proofread your own work.

Morgen: I agree, which is where my editor comes in very handy. We email most of the time and meet up every now and then although we tend to natter about other things then. :) I’d like to pick your brains about the graphic design side… anyway, back to the interview. :)

Gary: The printing is done by Lightning Source, a print-on-demand company. Unlike some other similar companies, they are not a publisher, they just produce the books to your specifications as a publisher. Sales have been handled mostly through online retailers like amazon. So far this model has worked well for me.

Morgen: And it’s what I plan to do, although probably just eBooks rather than print versions for now. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Gary: Drama – plays and non-fiction works about theatre and theatre history. I’m trying to move more into creative writing – I hate that phrase because I consider all writing to be creative – certainly more plays and I’d love to have a go at short stories sometime.

Morgen: Yay, do. They’re great. I started with short stories then went on to novels (which I’m either trimming to be novellas or cherry picking for anthologies) but have come full circle… back to my first love. :) What have you had published to-date?

Gary: My first publications under iPSO FACTO have been a couple of books for drama students to encourage engagement with classical theatre texts – ‘Monologue 1M’ for boys and ‘Monologue 1F’ for girls – available through all good bookstores and online retailers. Shameless plug.

Morgen: That’s OK – you’re here so people can get to you know you but also your writing.

Gary: I’ve written a number of plays but haven’t published any of them yet. They range from very short works (I think my shortest had only eight words of dialogue) to full length dramas and comedies.

Morgen: Eight words? Two words over an Ernest Hemingway story (For sale: baby shoes, never worn). How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Gary: I have to say that this is the part of the whole process that I enjoy the least, it’s also the part at which I’m frankly lousy. I’m trying to get better at it, but promoting my own work always makes me feel very self conscious. I wish I was one of those people who can stand up and say ‘look, I’ve done this and it’s really good’…

Morgen: I’ve found that it’s the worst thing you can do. If you want to get de-followed on Twitter then spend most of your time touting. Those that do also get shouted down on the LinkedIn forums I belong to (and probably elsewhere).

Gary: …but when I talk about my work, I tend to start by apologising for its shortcomings rather than praising its virtues. However, it absolutely has to be done, so I’m making a positive effort at the moment to get out there, tell people about my work, get it covered in the media and advertised online etc. I’ll do it because I have to but I don’t think I’ll ever truly enjoy marketing.

Morgen: I’m no sales person either but have to be realistic that I will have to start letting people know that I have eBooks out there when they’re ready but I will endeavour to stick to the 90% chat / useful info etc. vs 10% ‘pick me’. Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

Gary: In the past I’ve tended to avoid competitions because I find it difficult to think of any artistic endeavour as a competitive activity. However, I think that the publicity and exposure that comes along with winning some of these competitions can be very valuable, often much more valuable to the writer than any monetary prizes on offer. In the drama field, many of the competitions now offer production or readings as the main prizes and this can be a fantastic opportunity for the aspiring playwright. Remember that most authors only want to see their work in print, the ultimate goal for the playwright is to see their work on stage. With that in mind, I have started to enter some of my plays into competitions for the first time this year – I’ll let you know if it leads to anything.

Morgen: Yay! Please do. Always love an opportunity to say “yay”. :) Competitions successes (wins or shortlists) do enhance a CV as it’s a confirmation by those in the industry that you’re doing something write. I was told off by an agent recently for having too much on my cover letter… but then I’m involved in so many things that I didn’t think it would do any harm but I guess I just need to summarise rather than divulge. I’d not considered that they’re more interested in the writing than me. :( Do you write under a pseudonym? If so why and do you think it makes a difference?

Gary: Nope – but some years ago I started to include my middle initial to distinguish myself from another ‘Gary Dooley’ in the theatre business. Nowadays I can never quite decide whether to include it or not.

Morgen: Many American actors go for middle initials so it could be seen as very cosmopolitan. :) As you’re both in the same business it may help. It’s funny as it’s not a particularly common name (not that I’ve heard anyway). Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Gary: No, I can see the advantages for some people, but it wouldn’t fit with the way I work at the moment, it’s really horses for courses.

Morgen: There really is mixed feelings over them at the moment but I dare say that if an agent approached them they’d not say “no”. :) So, being self-published, are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

Gary: I made all my recent publications available as eBooks as well as conventional books. eBooks are relatively easy to set up and it wasn’t much more work to make them available in that format. Of course, the big advantage of eBooks from an author’s point of view is that production costs are pretty much zero once the book is set up, so there is a much higher profit margin on each sale.

Morgen: Another tick in the eBook’s favour. :)

Gary: To date, only a small percentage of my sales have been eBooks;

Morgen: That’s really interesting.

Gary: I’m sure that this is partially due to the way that I am (under) marketing them.

Morgen: Ah, OK. I may need to pull my sales head on firmer than I thought then. :)

Gary: Some people love eBooks and I think it makes sense to offer your work in whatever format the consumer prefers; personally … and here’s a confession … I’ve never read an eBook, I much prefer a real live book.

Morgen: Many people do. I’m still a paperback reader although I have an eReader so that comes with me when I go away (very rarely so I’ve only had to charge it twice!). What are you working on at the moment / next?

Gary: I’m working on a teacher’s volume to accompany the two monologue books and I’m exploring the possibilities of some books aimed at getting very young children to engage with Shakespeare. With my dramatist’s hat on, I’m in the middle of a play about the ‘Golden Age’ detective writers, a murder mystery featuring Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, G.K. Chesterton etc. I’m enjoying the challenge of using ‘real people’ as characters and I’ve developed a whole new respect for authors who can plot a good murder mystery – it’s tough!

Morgen: Tell me about it. I’ve not really dabbled in crime but having been told (by an agent at Winchester) that I should I’m seriously considering it. I’m not unintelligent but I think you do have to be very clever to write crime… and accurate. Errors will always be picked up on. You do seem very focussed, do you manage to write every day?

Gary: I try to write something every day, even if it’s only a sentence or two.

Morgen: That makes me feel better as I don’t often write other than my fortnightly writing workshop group (and projects like http://nanowrimo.org and http://storyaday.org) but I’m constantly scribbling – every dog-walking jacket has a notepad in it). What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Gary: There are good days and bad days. A good day is a day when I write more than I delete. My advice would be that if you have one of those days when you just can’t seem to get a word down on paper, don’t be a martyr to it – go and do something else, something fun, live a little – who knows, you may just end up doing something that will inspire you to write about it.

Morgen: Absolutely. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Gary: With my plays, I do like to start out with a plot and a basic set of characters in mind but when it really works they take on a life of their own and often take the piece in unexpected directions. I like a framework, but I think that there’s a danger that over-plotting can end up limiting the possibilities.

Morgen: I agree. I’d be surprised if any author’s work has stuck exactly to their plot outline. I plotted my first novel and it vaguely followed but went in so many directions that it didn’t get as far as I had planned and by the time I’d written the first draft (53,000 words for http://nanowrimo.org November 2008) that it was right not to as it would have changed the story, and the main character, too much. Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Gary: I’m always editing and tweaking, for me re-writing is probably as important as writing. The real art is in knowing when to let go and admit to yourself that a work is finished. I liken it to an artist painting a picture, when do you know that a certain brush stroke should be the last one?

Morgen: But they probably want to keep going too. :) I tend to do three or four edits and call it a day. I have a relatively low boredom threshold (can’t remember the last time I was bored actually, always too busy) which is probably why I tend to read anthologies rather than novels (unless it’s a gripping novel!). What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Gary: I’m not sure I have anything as formal as a creative process but I do find that ideas take a long time to gestate. Sometimes the seed of an idea will be around for months, or even years, before it blossoms into a writing project.

Morgen: Wow. See aforementioned reference to low boredom threshold. :) Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Gary: Nowadays a computer most of the time, though I still use old fashioned notebooks for ideas. I’ve just re-discovered the joys of writing with an ink pen and I’m convinced that it improves my thinking as well as my writing – well, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

Morgen: And I think you should. :) I can’t write with a pencil… well, obviously I can, but I don’t like to. For some writers it’s their weapon of choice but for me I think it’s the fear of it being rubbed out too easily. What sort of music do you listen to when you write?

Gary: None. I love music but find it impossible to have anything on in the background when I’m writing.

Morgen: I’m surprised by how many people have said that. I can’t have words while I’m creating words but I like classical, generally. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Gary: This isn’t really an issue for a playwright, it’s first person all the way. A more pertinent issue for the playwright is exposition, whereas the prose author can tell you in the third person whatever they choose about a character or situation, the playwright must find a way of revealing everything through the way characters speak – it’s a real challenge.

Morgen: It is. I’ve dabbled (a one-act five-minute play and the first 100 pages of a script for NaNoWriMo’s sister organisation http://scriptfrenzy.org in April 2010). Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Gary: Coincidentally, I’ve just finished a play – a reworking of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ set in a care home – the first one for which I have ever written a prologue and epilogue.

Morgen: Oh wow. That sounds fun. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Gary: Favourite: the creative freedom – that sounds pompous, but it translates roughly as the opportunity to have a cup of tea whenever I feel like it. Least Favourite: the need to market myself – self promotion sends a shiver down my spine.

Morgen: Yep. Snap. :) If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

Gary: That I can actually do it and that some people actually seem to like reading it.

Morgen: :) What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Gary: I’m not sure I’d be presumptuous enough to offer advice, I’m still on a steep learning curve myself. If I’ve learned anything it’s that you have to keep moving forwards, take the knockbacks, learn what you can from them and move on.

Morgen: Absolutely. I’d say that five years down the line. What do you like to read?

Gary: Anything and everything.

Morgen: Short and simple. :) I know the answer to the first part but I’ll ask anyway… in which country are you based, Gary, and do you find this a help or hindrance with letting people know about your work?

Gary: I’m currently based in the UK but I don’t think that geographical location makes much difference these days. The majority of my book sales have come from the USA and Australia.

Morgen: A lot of my interviewees have said that (the ‘little difference’ bit). Are you on any forums or networking sites?

Gary: Forums and networking sites? You’re talking to someone who hasn’t even figured out how to use a mobile phone. You think I’m joking?

Morgen: You’re one step ahead of my mum, she doesn’t have one. And I don’t know mine all that well (but then I’ve only had it three weeks – it’s a BlackBerry by the way and I love it – so that’s a good excuse). Do take a look at LinkedIn. I joined it thinking it was very businessy but if you join one of the writing-related groups you can start and/or take part in any writing-related (and sometimes off at a tangent) discussion. Where can we find out about you and your work?

Gary: I don’t have a personal website or blog, though I probably should have.

Morgen: I’d go for the blog; they’re free but also I find them easier to update than my website (but then my website software is pretty rubbish).

Gary: There are so many opportunities out there for writers – the future is limited only by your imagination – who said that? Seriously, I don’t think there’s ever been a better time to be a writer. I would suggest to any writer that they look at the possibilities – new media, self pubishing etc – there are a lot of ways of getting your work out there and finding an audience as well as the ‘traditional’ publishing route.

Morgen: My imagination is only limited by time. :( To get your own back, is there a question you’d like to ask me? :)

Gary: Never try to get your own back on an interviewer – it will always backfire. Always tell them they are the most insightful interviewer ever, it’s the best way of ensuring that your words don’t get mangled in the edit. You are the most insightful interviewer ever.

Morgen: Ah thanks, Gary (could you be ever so slightly biased?) – see you on Thursday. :)

Dr Gary Dooley has a PhD from Cambridge University and has achieved widespread recognition as an author, teacher and social scientist. He has lived and worked in the UK, Australia and the USA. In addition to his academic work, he has always maintained an active involvement in the theatre and has worked with many theatre companies around the world. As a director, his productions of classic plays, including King Lear, Othello, Measure for Measure and The Servant of Two Masters, have been widely acclaimed. He currently lives in Northampton (UK) and devotes much of his time to writing for and about theatre.

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Welcome to the seventy-ninth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with novelist Gary Murning. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here.

Morgen: Hi Gary. Please tell us something about yourself and how you came to be a writer.

Gary: I live in the north-east of England and started writing seriously shortly after finishing sixth form college in 1985 due to ill-health. I was born with the condition called Type II spinal muscular atrophy—which basically means I have always used a wheelchair and have limited upper body strength. This together with the fact that I had been pushing myself rather hard meant that I reached a point where I just couldn’t continue with my formal education. I therefore left and, whilst recuperating, spent a lot of time reading. I’d always read, of course, but now I had much more time to explore all the various literary possibilities. I read everything from Stephen King to James Joyce, and many of these writers inspired me to write because they were so incredibly good. Some, however, inspired me to write simply because they were quite abysmal! As many of us do, I read those books and thought, “Hey, I can do better than this.” I couldn’t, of course. Not then. But once I started writing in a committed way, I gradually started to see improvement. There was no going back.

Morgen: Absolutely. It’s all about practice, and reading does make such a difference. What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

Gary: I’ve tried just about everything at one time or another. I started off writing horror fiction but soon realised that that wasn’t really what I wanted to do. And, also, that it was a genre that didn’t really suit my literary ability. Horror fiction requires certain skills that I didn’t have at the time and which I wasn’t really all that inclined to develop.

Gary: These days, my work pretty much falls into the mainstream / literary genre, I suppose. I like to play with form, where possible, occasionally using genre motifs in a hopefully new way—but, generally, I like to write fiction that entertains and hopefully prompts the reader to stop and think occasionally.

Morgen: But not stop long enough to get distracted and move away. What have you had published to-date? If applicable, can you remember where you saw your first books on the shelves?

Gary: My first traditionally published novel, If I Never, was published in 2009 by Legend Press and my second, Children of the Resolution, was self-published earlier this year (it’s very different to my first novel and my publisher saw possible marketing problems, so I took the rather hair-raising but ultimately rewarding step of self-publishing).

Morgen: A lot of people are doing that now, including me… well, the eBook route. How much of the marketing do you do for your published works or indeed for yourself as a ‘brand’?

Gary: The first time I saw my book on the shelves was actually in a photograph. My parents had dropped by the local Borders store (the company went under not long afterwards, but I swear it was nothing to do with me!) and, expecting to find at best one or two copies of my novel buried at the back of the store somewhere, they instead were greeted with this: http://garymurning.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/borders-pulls-out-all-the-stops. You’ll note they spelt my name wrong in the display sign, but I reckoned I could forgive them that.

Morgen: Although it was pretty clear on the book jacket. :( I know the feeling (I often get ‘Morgan’) but thrilling nonetheless. Do you have an agent? Do you think they’re vital to an author’s success?

Gary: I don’t, no. I did have for a short while—for a couple of months about five or six years before I finally sold If I Never—but it wasn’t the best of experiences. He pretty much took me on because he saw something, as he would have it, “special”. I’d submitted a novel that I’d vaguely thought of as a crime novel. He then told me it was most definitely not a crime novel. What it was, he said, was a brilliant novel. I then did five redrafts in those couple of months at his request as he tried to turn it into a crime novel! Completely wrecking it (as he ultimately admitted) in the process. This isn’t to say, of course, that this one bad experience will stop me from considering working with an agent in the future. I strongly suspect within the next year or two I will probably need one. For the time being, however, I’m managing well enough. I don’t think they’re vital when it comes to an author getting published these days. There are many up-and-coming independent publishers happy to consider work submitted directly from the author. I do think, however, that as an author’s career builds, he/she can only benefit from the expertise of an agent.

Morgen: I think you’re probably right but I think the whole industry is changing because of eBooks so it’ll be an interesting time. Speaking of which, are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process?

Gary: They are, yes. I actually had nothing to do with the whole process with regard my first novel. My publisher took care of all that. With my second novel, however, I pretty much did all that myself and it was extremely pain-free.

Morgen: Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

Gary: Over the years… we’re probably talking in the hundreds! I’m afraid it’s just part of the process—and I resigned myself to that very early on. The bottom line is, if you want to get published you’re going to have to suffer the rejections. It’s hard (bordering on soul destroying, at times!), but you really do have to learn to file it away and move on. (And, yes, I know there’ll be some saying “oh, yes, well, it’s easy for you to say, you’re published”—but I used to say it when I wasn’t published, for all those years when I was actually suffering the rejections.)

Morgen: It does get easier the more you get (she says at a paltry 29). What are you working on at the moment / next?

Gary: I’m currently approaching the end of a novel called The Legacy of Lorna Lovelost. I have another couple of novels to be published before this one, but I’m really looking forward to seeing what people make of Legacy. It’s a novel that’s been a joy to write. Really going to miss the characters.

Morgen: Maybe you could write a sequel or put them elsewhere? :) Readers love series.

Gary: Next on the cards is The Wisdom of Closed Worlds, a novel exploring the 1950s disability landscape in the UK. Residential care for disabled kids, that kind of thing, but in my own, inimitable style! I want to explore a teenage girl’s awakening sexuality under those conditions (some of which were frighteningly extreme and abusive). It’s quite possibly going to be my darkest work yet, in some respects, but ultimately a story of hope.

Morgen: Ooh, I love dark… and agents tell me it’s what they’re looking for. Well, three agents said “crime”. Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

Gary: I write every weekday, yes—but only for an hour or so. I could probably write four or five thousand words, but my daily target is a fairly reasonable one thousand words. It’s a target I am comfortable with. It suits the way I work. If I wrote more I would be concerned that the quality would suffer. I approach it like a marathon, I suppose, rather than a sprint. My projects tend to be pretty long. 120,000+ words. So I have learned to pace myself.

Morgen: Ouch. The first draft of my chick lit was 117,540 (a figure burned in my brain) which I completed for http://nanowrimo.org in November 2009. I’m not sure I could do that quantity again (especially in a month) as short appeals now but I guess if I have a strong enough storyline. What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

Gary: I always get in trouble when I talk about writer’s block! I have very little patience with this American import, I’m afraid.

Morgen: Oh, I didn’t know it was American. :)

Gary: There have been times when writing has been difficult for me, but I would never attribute this to such a strange condition! Life sometimes gets in the way, crowds the creative process, but to speak in such terms, for me, empowers the concept, and I flat refuse to do that. It can all too easily become a way of avoiding writing, of sounding writerly without writing—and I enjoy writing too much to risk making myself susceptible to such an indistinct yet oddly infectious “disease”.

Morgen: It can, that’s very true. Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

Gary: I used to write by the seat of my pants, so to speak! Started with the basic idea, as you say, and just let it take me wherever it wished. I found this a pretty hit and miss approach, however, and, so, these days I outline thoroughly beforehand. (Roughly, to give you an idea of just how thoroughly, my outlines usually turn out to be one tenth of the length of the completed project.)

Morgen: This seems to be the general consensus of my interviewees; a bit of both. Do you have a method for creating your characters, their names and what do you think makes them believable?

Gary: No. Or, at least, not in any organised, formulaic way. Characters tend to occur to me and I carry them about in my head for months before even thinking of putting anything on paper. This is my getting-to-know-them period.

Morgen: Who is your first reader – who do you first show your work to?

Gary: My father, usually, though not always.

Morgen: Oh great. Handy. :) Do you do a lot of editing or do you find that as time goes on your writing is more fully-formed?

Gary: I’ve been told that my first drafts often have the feel of third or fourth drafts. If I haven’t got, in my estimation, the novel 90% of the way towards being the novel I want it to be at first draft, something’s gone radically wrong. I tend to do minor edits as I go along. More proofreading, than anything else, I suppose. I write a thousand words, check it through, move onto the next thousand. Over the weekend I’ll work through the five thousand words from the week before, making only minor changes (the structural issues have usually been resolved in outline stage—so I suppose that could be thought of as the true first draft), and continue like this until I reach the end. I then take a few weeks away from it before working through it editing and correcting.

Morgen: Sounds like a good plan though. Besides when you say your projects tend to be 120,000 words it sounds like you’ve had plenty of practice. What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write?

Gary: A lot. The actual writing, I suppose, makes up less than 5% of the creative process for me. I carry my stories around with me, in my head, exploring possibilities when they occur. I find this pretty vital. When I actually come to write about these characters and their lives, I want it to have the feel of something remembered rather than created. This process helps me achieve that, I think.

Morgen: It’s surprising easy it is not to know your characters inside and out. I’ve often given my writing workshop group ‘picture’ exercises alongside small blank character tables (with name, nickname, nationality, age, job, hair colour, height, favourite music / food, regular saying, relationship, children, siblings, religion, aspirations and quirks) to complete and it really helps. Even if they don’t use it all it gets them inside the character’s head. Although Lee Child doesn’t describe Jack Reacher, he must have an image of him in his head at the very least. Do you write on paper or do you prefer a computer?

Gary: Computer. It’s difficult for me to use a pen—or even the keyboard—so I use voice recognition software. An incredibly powerful, useful tool. I’d be well and truly scuppered without it.

Morgen: I used to use it (Dragon) but had the TV on which it picked up too so I switched the TV off but then found I kept on having to repeat so much that I was quicker (and I type at c. 80wpm so I was anyway) – it’s gathering dust in my loft I think now. £100 not well spent. Ouch. What sort of music do you listen to when you write?

Gary: I don’t. Apart from the fact that it can interfere with my voice recognition software, I don’t like any kind of distraction whilst writing.

Morgen: Ah yes, same problem as me with the TV.

Gary: Silence is the ideal. (I do, however, like to listen to classical music whilst editing. Liszt’s Harmonies du Soir and 6 Consolations are currently on the playlist, along with Philip Glass’s Metamorphosis.)

Morgen: Oh, I don’t know those. By name yes but… I have a lot of classical but just checked good old iTunes and have neither. What point of view do you find most to your liking: first person or third person? Have you ever tried second person?

Gary: I do have a love of the first person—primarily because, I think, I like the idea of being in the story, of actually playing a character myself. The frustrated actor in me, I suppose!

Morgen: Is there something stopping you? Maybe a local am dram to start with. :)

Gary: I do occasionally write in the third person, though. Some stories simply require it. As for the second person… yes, I have tried it! And I would advise extreme caution where the second person is concerned! At best, it can look little more than a conceit. Rarely works, in my humble opinion.

Morgen: A lot of people say that. I love doing it but yes, you’re right. It only fits a certain style of piece. Do you use prologues / epilogues? What do you think of the use of them?

Gary: Oh, yes. When the novel requires it. I’m deeply suspicious of those who say such things are “unfashionable” or find some other excuse to prohibit their use. The simple fact is, I will do whatever I think right for the novel. My latest, Children of the Resolution, would not be the novel it is without its prologue and epilogue. It’s a retrospective piece so these tools were perfect for my needs.

Morgen: That’s really interesting because a lot of people have only bad things to say about them. I used to not read them but used a prologue in one novel so I’m open to them now. Do you have pieces of work that you think will never see light of day?

Gary: Oh, let me see, about ten or twenty, yes! (I wouldn’t let them see the light of day!)

Morgen: :) They may not be as bad as you think but it sounds like you have your hands full anyway. What’s your favourite / least favourite aspect of your writing life?

Gary: My least favourite would be stopping, I think. Hand on heart, I thoroughly enjoy every aspect of what I do. Yes, there are days when fatigue kicks in and some things can be a bit of a chore, but by and large I feel blessed. I get to make up weird characters and hang out with them! How could that not be fun?

Morgen: Absolutely. I can’t understand why it wouldn’t be either but I know one of my writers finds the whole process tortuous but then she’s a poet so say no more. :) (I don’t do poetry unless I’m pressed to) What advice would you give aspiring writers?

Gary: Write. Read. Write some more. Read even more. Submit. Be prepared for rejection. And persist. Publication can happen overnight, with first novels, but this is the exception that proves the rule—and if you don’t enjoy writing for the sake of writing, it might be wise to consider trying something else.

Morgen: Like the books dotted around my house. The good thing about dogs is that they don’t bring belongings with them. :) I read Ian McEwan’s ‘Comfort of Strangers’ and couldn’t get on with it; I think it would have made a better short story (although it’s a novella so not epic) but his ‘Atonement’… now there’s a great book. Are there any writing-related websites and/or books that you find useful and would recommend?

Gary: I’m on Twitter (http://twitter.com/garymurning), which I use extensively. I can also be found on Facebook. I do find them extremely important, Twitter especially. Were it not for Twitter, I think it’s fair to say I would not have built anywhere near the readership I have.

Morgen: That’s really interesting. You are prolific (I do spot you in amongst the crowd :)) but it’s great to know that putting a lot of work in gets some rewards. :) Where can we find out about you and your work?

Gary is a novelist living in the northeast of England. His work, largely mainstream fiction, focuses on themes that touch us all — love, death, loss and aspiration — but always with an eye to finding an unusual angle or viewpoint. Quirky and highly readable, his writing aims to entertain first and foremost. If he can also offer a previously unfamiliar perspective or insight, all the better.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

Below are details of a few more forthcoming / ongoing competitions and submission opportunities…

Coast to Coast runs poetry (50 lines max) and short story (2000 words max) monthly competition with deadline of 25th– the top four stories and eight poems are published in an anthology (presumably yearly). Post to Flat 1, 9 Wellington Street, Liverpool L22 8QL (Contact Maurice James 07780 642086).

www.fanstory.com/index1contest.jsp lists ongoing competitions of which there are 50 each month! You can submit poetry and/or short stories free of charge for cash prizes! It’s an American site which sounds like fantasy but also have categories of sci-fi, humour, mystery, war, horror, non-fiction, children and ‘others’. They make their money by advertisers and membership (from $2.80 per month). Work listed is reviewed and you can review other people’s work…sounds like fun.

Should you be a gardener ‘Home Farmer’ magazine is looking for submissions, especially those of a traditional nature. Contact: Home Farmer, The Good Life Press Ltd, PO Box 536, Preston PR2 9ZY (or e-mail editor@homefarmer.co.uk). Their website is www.homefarmer.co.uk.

‘Still Crazy’ has opportunities for writers aged 50+ – see www.crazylitmag.com for more details.

For more useful stuff – take a look at this blogs ‘Useful info.‘ page.

Liars’ League run a series of short fiction readings held at ‘The Lamb’ pub in Lambs Conduit Street, London on the second Tuesday of every month. Authors write, but the stories are read by actors. It costs two pounds to get in, and everyone is welcome. Contributions (each evening has a theme) are also welcome. The downside is that contributors have to live in London but it may still be worth a visit should you be in the area. See their ‘myspace’ website page for more details (www.myspace.com/liarsleague).

www.learnwriting.co.uk do weekend and 5-day courses on the Isle of Wight. Courses include screenwriting, poetry, novels and story analysis. Prices from £120 to £290 residential or cheaper for non-residents! Contact 01983 407772 (e-mail info@learnwriting.co.uk).

www.liberato.co.uk – writing courses / weekend retreats. Weekend courses run from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon and cost just under £200 inc. accommodation. Polstead Lodge is a small, comfortable guest house in a quiet, historic part of Suffolk (just 15 minutes from Colchester). Polstead, in Constable country, was the location of the infamous Red Barn murder of Maria Marten, made into a Victorian melodrama. Maria’s house and that of her murderer, William Corder, can still be seen in the village. Groups are limited to 4 maximum, so each writer gets individual attention as well as group tutorials and discussions. All Liberato courses include a written manuscript critique as well as one-to-one sessions really get to grips with the nitty-gritty of each participant’s writing.

Please note: No responsibility can be taken for the content of any linked sites or the accuracy or views expressed therein, and competitions that do not run etc. This post is for information only.

For more useful stuff like this – see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page.

Welcome to the seventy-eighth of my blog interviews with novelists, poets, directors, bloggers, autobiographers and more. Today’s is with multi-genre writer James Dorr. If you like what you read, please do go and investigate the author further. A list of interviewees (blogged and scheduled) can be found here.

Morgen: Hello James. Please tell us how you came to be a writer.

James: I had originally thought of my talents as lying more in the visual arts and, in college, became art editor of the humor magazine as well as doing occasional illustration for the literary and science / engineering magazines. However I also branched out into writing occasional articles, and, once in graduate school, I ended up doing a weekly science / humor column which led to an editorial post for an alternative newspaper, and then an arts weekly. That led to a paying gig as a technical writer and editor, and later freelancing real estate, business, and consumer articles. The freedom of that last phase was great, but the hand-to-mouth aspects were less so, so I traded it in for a relatively low-level non-writing job at an optometry clinic, and used my free time to get back to the more creative — and fun — side of writing.

Morgen: My goodness, what a mixture (so lots to write about :)). What genre do you generally write and have you considered other genres?

James: I’m a little bit of a switch hitter already, but I work mainly in short dark fantasy / horror fiction and poetry with some science fiction and mystery thrown in. Some of my best magazine sales have been to Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, for instance, and I was even a finalist for an Anthony award one year for a story I had in New Mystery. As for science fiction, I started off as a science fiction fan so that was a natural, but I’d also discovered Edgar Allan Poe and the shadier sides of Ray Bradbury and, as time went on, my own artistic view became darker. As for other genres, I might add that I do sometimes play with romantic elements (which isn’t so far from horror sometimes, by one way of thinking).

Morgen: Romantic horror, I like that idea. :) What have you had published to-date? How much of the marketing do you do?

James: I’ve published between three and four hundred individual pieces, short stories or poems, at this point, I think. Possibly more if I count reprints, but after a point, I stopped really counting. These are to all sorts of markets, of course, from the fully professional to the truly dreadful, although these do not count non-fiction work outside of my “creative” genres or earlier fan fiction / poetry done “4 the luv” only. In addition I have one out-of-print poetry chapbook, Towers of Darkness, published as part of Nocturnal Publications’ “Night Visions” series in the early 1990s plus two current collections from Dark Regions Press, Strange Mistresses: Tales of Wonder and Romance and Darker Loves: Tales of Mystery and Regret, which are still very much available. Also, perhaps even as you are reading this, I have a full size book of poetry, Vamps (A Retrospective), coming from Sam’s Dot Publications, of which I will have more to say in a bit. As for the self-marketing aspect of it, it varies according to the level of publication but does appear to be more and more the coming thing, so I’m trying to learn.

Morgen: Have you won or been shortlisted in any competitions and do you think they help with a writer’s success?

James: Shortlisted plenty. I mentioned being an Anthony finalist above, the mystery equivalent of science fiction’s Hugo, for a story called “Paperboxing Art” which is also in my Darker Loves collection. I’ve also been a Darrell finalist (stories set in the U.S. Mid-South), a Pushcart Prize nominee, and a multi-time Rhysling poetry finalist / 2nd place / 3rd place / honorable mention, as well as having a number of honorable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror, and one in Circlet Press’s Best Fantastic Erotica. :-D And there are three that went all the way: a story, “Flying,” won the Best of the Web 1998 competition, “La Méduse” (also reprinted in Strange Mistresses) came in first in the World Horror Convention 2002 Poetry Competition, and “The Edge of the World” won the Balticon 40 Poetry Contest. As for helping with a writer’s success, you may have noticed you haven’t heard of many of these. Still some carry prestige among the groups they represent and, with some circumspection, any could make good resume items, not to mention that any award is a boost to morale. Also the prize for the Balticon contest included money.

Morgen: My goodness… that puts my submission history to shame. Are your books available as eBooks? If so what was your experience of that process? And do you read eBooks?

James: The two Dark Regions collections are in trade paperback only (well, also a deluxe hardbound edition of Darker Loves), but I do have one stand-alone long story, The Garden, out in both paper chapbook and electronic form from Damnation Books. I have, of course, had many stories and poems published in electronic magazines and anthologies, and, as I write this, I’m in process of publishing another long story, Vanitas (originally published in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine), in a stand-alone electronic edition by Untreed Reads, with possibly more coming in the future. This too, I think, is a coming thing and, especially in terms of stories that have been published before in print but a number of years back, it’s something I may be pursuing more.

Morgen: With so much under your belt, can you remember what your first acceptance was and is being accepted still a thrill?

James: In a sense it’s almost impossible to say what my first acceptance was, but I do count a sword and sorcery story, “The Fourth Attempt,” that appeared in the long-defunct Fright Depot as my first sf / fantasy / horror / mystery genre sale that actually paid me real live money. I received an acceptance by mail accompanied with a one dollar bill which I made a frame for and put on the wall. (It’s still there, I think, but buried under untold other bulletin board items.) What I count as my first professional genre sale, “The Wellmaster’s Daughter” (also in Strange Mistresses), was to Alfred Hitchcock’s and was paid by check which I Xeroxed and framed and put on the wall, while I cashed the original. Any acceptance is still a thrill, though, and I make a point of rewarding myself with a cappuccino whenever one comes, although I’ll confess, especially in these recession-bound days of fading opportunities and lowering paychecks, that I’ve been pushing reprints harder and, since I don’t really want a strong coffee all that often, by now I owe myself several reward drinks.

Morgen: Another author I’ve interviewed said they’d framed their dollar bill payment. Mine was £10 cheque and was pretty so that’s gone in a display book. The second was an equally attractive book token but I colour copied it and put it towards the (then) latest copy of the Writers & Artists Yearbook. Have you had any rejections? If so, how do you deal with them?

James: The other side of the writing game coin. Of course I’ve had — and still have — many, many rejections. They don’t feel nice, but it passes. With some pieces I’ll have already decided on second-choice markets, so those go right out again. Others I may think about for a while, being especially alert to any new anthologies they might seem fitted for, at the same time seeing what other stories I might send to the markets that just rejected me. (To be sure, I’ll cross some off my list when I’ve been turned down enough that it doesn’t seem worth while chasing them further — sometimes a given editor’s tastes and mine will just differ — but I’m also constantly on the lookout for new, untried markets to send to.)

Morgen: I think what you say is the best thing to do with rejections. Don’t dwell and just resubmit. I learned of http://duotrope.com recently and it’s great for finding markets (I’d also recommend http://jbwb.co.uk and then http://womagwriter.blogspot.com for women’s magazine submission info). Do you manage to write every day? What’s the most you’ve written in a day?

James: My “dirty little secret” is that I’m really quite undisciplined so, no, I don’t really write every day. That doesn’t mean I’m not plotting things in my head, or taking notes, or writing snippets of stories or poems on the backs of envelopes — shopping lists too. I even have a pad and pen on my night table for jotting down things that I might think of just before going to sleep. For actual writing though, rear on the chair and hands on the keyboard, I like to have a space of at least several hours ahead of me so I’ll have time to procrastinate, make false starts, etc. As for the most I’ve written in a day, I’ve often completed two and three-thousand word short stories in a sitting, but the record is probably about 7000 words. I should mention also that not everything a writer does is actual writing so, on days when I might not be working on writing itself, I might be reading proof sheets, or dealing with editors, or submitting or planning places to submit work to, or even doing my taxes.

Morgen: Wow, if you’re not disciplined I wonder what your output would be if you were. :) What is your opinion of writer’s block? Do you ever suffer from it? If so, how do you ‘cure’ it?

James: Is that a fancy name for procrastination? I do that, certainly. But I don’t know really because I’m not that sure what writer’s block is — that is, I do get tired at times, for instance, even feel temporarily burned out, but that could apply to any profession. I do have trouble getting ideas too, at any time, which is why some of my work may seem a little quirky now and then, usually a symptom of not having a good idea at the time, so I had to make do with one a better writer than I might have chosen not to touch. But even then I find picking up something else to do for a while can help, in my case often playing music (I lead and play tenor in a Renaissance recorder consort) or going for a walk.

Morgen: Renaissance… mmm… I’ve heard agents saying they want historical fiction. :) Do you plot your stories or do you just get an idea and run with it?

James: Both. I think as time has gone on, I’ve moved more and more toward getting an idea and running with it, but that’s because I’ve been developing skills for doing more of the work in my head and not having to think as consciously about what will come next. Also, though, I’ve been tending more toward short shorts and flash fiction, which aren’t going to take as much formal plotting.

Morgen: They aren’t, isn’t that great? :) If anything, what has been your biggest surprise about writing?

James: That people are willing to read and even pay me for what I write? But then I did a lot of grunt writing in my editing and freelancing days where it was easy to see that that kind of output served a purpose. Someone has to explain the new computer program or how the latest mortgage works. Or even whether the latest movie is any good. So is it so strange then that someone might want to read my latest fiction (although, unfortunately, not usually be willing to pay nearly as much to do so)?

Morgen: I like that; ‘grunt writing’. What advice would you give aspiring writers?

James: Persevere. Persevere. Persevere. Also stretch yourself and, even if what you come up with sucks (can I use that word?), think of it as a learning process. The more you write, the better it should get. Also read, and not just in your genre, or just current writers. I count as my influences Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides (that is, the Ancient Greek tragedies — which are great for stealing from for horror writers!) along with Edgar Allan Poe, Allen Ginsberg and Bertolt Brecht along with Ray Bradbury, and I won’t even talk about Chaucer and Shakespeare. Also read nonfiction, biographies, travel books, books for research both for current projects and simply to file in your mind for future projects (speaking of that first Alfred Hitchcock’s sale, which came out of leftover research about deserts that I’d had to do for a different story), or just serendipity (also learn big words — no, I really mean it, words are your tools and you should learn to love them).

Morgen: Absolutely. A successful writer is one who didn’t give up. What do you think the future holds for a writer?

James: Who can say? Remember that films are written, ultimately, by writers; computer game scenarios are created by writers; even song lyrics are written by writers, whether they themselves realize it or not. So I think there always will be writers, and a need for them in one form or another — in nonfiction, printed newspapers may give way to informed blogs, but that’s still writing, as are the instruction books would-be bloggers need to read to get themselves started. The only thing is — and this is a universal too — except for a few very good, very lucky stars, it doesn’t pay much. Even Shakespeare got his real paychecks as an actor-producer.

Morgen: Another stable profession. :) Are there any new projects or anything else you’d like to mention?

James: While we’ve been discussing primarily fiction, one aspect we haven’t said too much about yet is poetry, so let me first mention that my newest book, Vamps (A Retrospective),has just been listed for July by Sam’s Dot Publishing. This is an 84-page collection of poems about vampires and vampire-associated lore, approximately a third of which consists of previously unpublished material, with illustrations by artist and fellow poet Marge Simon. Then, for a bit farther in the future, I’ve been having discussions with a publisher about a possible novel made up of individual stand-alone segments — somewhat like Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles or Christopher Barzak’s The Love We Share Without Knowing — that add up to a larger story set in the “Tombs,” a huge necropolis and its environs on a far-future, dying Earth (several Tombs stories have been published alone as short fiction already, as a sort of preview, including some in my Strange Mistresses and Darker Loves collections, though not all of these would necessarily be in the novel too). And then for the even farther future, I’ve been kicking around some thoughts about combining elements from both these projects — vampirism entered into an exhausted, dying Tombs-like world, perhaps — along with my Towers of Darkness chapbook that I mentioned before, but whether this would be poetry or prose, or possibly some combination of both, I don’t know yet. Other than that, as I’ve said before I’ve been making an effort to get more of my older work, ten or twenty or more years back, republished as well as continuing to write new stuff — so perhaps another poetry book, say, in the next few years? Or maybe another prose collection, as well of course as continued outings in magazines and books (a new short short, “The Glass Shoe,” just published this month in Pink Narcissus Press’s Rapunzel’s Daughters and Other Tales was mentioned by title in Publishers Weekly), so for information on my latest doings, plus occasional free sample poems or stories and even a movie review or two, please check out my site at http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com and, if the spirit moves, feel free to linger, explore a bit, and comment and / or recommend it to others.

Morgen: Yes, please do. Thank you James. :)

Update From James, June 2012: My poetry book ‘Vamps (A Retrospective)’ has since come out from Sam’s Dot Publishing although in August rather than July. It can be ordered from the publisher or by going to my site and clicking its picture in the center column. My reprint long story ‘Vanitas’ is now available from Untreed Reads Publishing (or look for its picture on my site too) listed under “science fiction” although it’s really more steampunk/mystery, as is a shorter Christmas horror story ‘I’m Dreaming Of A…’ that came out in December 2011. (Also for Christmas I had a short vampire story ‘Naughty or Nice’ on ‘Daily Science Fiction’ for December 21 and a special poem posted on ‘Abyss & Apex’ December 25.) And I just received my copy of the signed contract today for a near-future novelette, ‘Peds’, that will also be published as an electronic book by Untreed Reads. That covers the major things, while as for the minor, may I once more invite readers to my blog, http://jamesdorrwriter.wordpress.com, to scroll down and enjoy not just accounts of my doings, but occasional samples (or “lagniappes”) of poems and stories, reviews of movies and DVDs (the most recent, ‘Dracula: Entre L’Amour et la Mort’), occasional mentions of my cat Wednesday, and as always an invitation to comment on anything there that strikes your fancy.

***

If you are reading this and you write, in whatever genre, and are thinking “ooh, I’d like to do this” then you can… just email me and I’ll send you the information. They do now (January 2013) carry a fee (£10 / €12.50 / $15) for the new interviews on this blog but everything else (see Opportunities on this blog) is free.

If you go for the interview, it’s very simple; I send you a questionnaire (I have them for novelists, short story authors, children’s authors, non-fiction authors, and poets). You complete the questions, and I let you know when it’s going to go live. Before it does so, I add in comments as if we’re chatting, and then they get posted. When that’s done, I email you with the link so you can share it with your corner of the literary world. And if you have a writing-related blog / podcast and would like to interview me… let me know.

Alternatively, if you’d like a free Q&A-only interview, I now have http://morgensauthorinterviews.wordpress.com on which I’ve rerun the original interviews posted here then posted new interviews which I then reblog here. These interviews are Q&A only, so I don’t add in my comments but they do get exposure on both sites.

** NEW!! You can now subscribe to this blog on your Kindle / Kindle app!

For writers / readers willing to give feedback and / or writers wanting feedback, take a look at this blog’s Feedback page.

As I post an interview a day (amongst other things) I can’t unfortunately review books but I have a list of those who do. I welcome critique for the four new writing groups listed below and / or flash fiction (<1000 words) for Flash Fiction Fridays. For other opportunities see (see Opportunities on this blog).

The full details of the new online writing groups, and their associated Facebook groups, are:

Every fortnight I provide my writing group with handouts of useful stuff like competitions to enter, websites to visit etc. and I thought I’d share them with you. Here are the short story-related ones (see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page for more)…

http://www.brightoncow.co.uk has two new competitions: “The first is free to enter and is titled ‘Summer Loving’. This is for fiction 500 to 1000 words, with three £10 prizes and the deadline is 31st July. The other is an open themed fiction competition. 3000 word limit and the prizes are £100, £50 and £25 as well as the shortlisted stories to be published on our site. This one costs £4 to enter (deadline is 31st August).”

The Manchester Fiction Prize 2011 will award a cash prize of £10,000 to the writer of the best short story of up to 3,000 words, open internationally to both new and established writers aged 16 or over. The story can be on any subject, and written in any style, but must be fiction and new work, not previously published, or submitted for consideration elsewhere during this competition. See http://www.manchesterwritingcompetition.co.uk/fiction/he for details. The deadline for entries is 5pm (UK time) on Friday 12th August 2011.

The Write Place Open Short Story Competition also has a closing date of 31st August. Submit: Short story, open themed, 1,500 words max. Fee £4.50 per entry, (optional one page critique £4.50) Prizes: 1st £100, 2nd £75, 3rd, £50. Entries to Francesca Burgess, 34 Capelands, New Ash Green, Longfield, Kent, DA3 8LG. Make cheques payable to ‘The Write Place’. More information at http://www.thewriteplace.org.uk or email f.capaldi.burgess@btinternet.com.

Once every quarter, CheerReader has a short story competition. The maximum story length is 2500 words, and you can write about any subject genre you like, but it has to be amusing, witty, funny, or whatever other word you may care to choose. See http://cheerreader.co.uk/Competitions.aspx for full details. The next deadline is 31st August.

The Wellington Town Council Short Story Competition 2011 is open to all. Max 4,500 words. Closing date 31st August. Entry fee £3, prizes £150, £100, £75. http://www.wellington-shropshire.gov.uk – go to the home page and scroll down for rules and entry form.

The Short Story website is designed to showcase the best short stories from around the world. The idea is simple. Submit your story and you will automatically enter The Short Story competition. First prize: £300, second prize: £150, third prize: £50. The winners will be published on the website (http://www.theshortstory.net). Deadline for submissions 15th September.

Short story competition: First Prize £500 (approx. 812 US$; 573€) Second Prize £150 (approx. 244 US$; 172€) Third Prize £50 (approx. 81 US$; 57€) Winners and shortlisted stories will be published in an anthology. Our short Story judge is Paul McDonald. Closing date: 30th September and costs £7.50 (12.50 US$; 9€) to enter. Details www.ruberybookaward.com.

28th October is the deadline for www.avogel.co.uk/story/enter.html although you can submit any time. Entry is free and prizes vary from £100 to £500. Thanks Denny for the info.

Submissions

Bound Off is a great free podcast that pays $20 per short story accepted which you can either record yourself or they would have an actor/actress to do it (I think it would be great to hear someone else read my story). I’ve submitted (and been rejected) a couple of times but they only take 2-3 stories a month so think it’s just a case of keeping going. They used to take submissions by email but now have to be sent via the http://www.submishmash.com website and not until after the summer (1st September). Bound Off’s website is http://boundoff.com.

I had an email from Patrick Hollander of the Hollander Literary Agency to say they are looking for short stories of any genre to pass on to publishers. Submission by email only please to phollander6@gmail.com. 1. Use Word.doc format only. 2. Maximum 25 pages. 3. Name & Address, email address, Title, Genre should appear on the front page. 4. The story should finish with the words – End of story. 5. Please allow 12 weeks for us to read submissions. 6. No communication will be entered in to unless we feel there is potential in the story but we will offer advice where we feel it is needed. 7. Communication will be to the email shown on Page 1 of the submission. Thank you for your attention to this matter.” It sounds genuine but you may wish to tread carefully nonetheless.

Iota welcomes submissions of short fiction in any genre, including life writing and memoir. “Please send short stories of between 2000 and 6000 words. All stories must be the original work of the author. We accept translations as long as they are identified as such. All work must be typed and double spaced. Please also send proposals (150 words) for features or essays. We also accept new fiction, biography and life writing for review, and copies should be sent to the Fiction Reviews Editor at the address below. Please email submissions and proposals to fiction@iotamagazine.co.uk.” Closing date for submissions to the third fiction & non-fiction issue is 31st July (and I assume every four months thereafter). See www.iotamagazine.co.uk/Submissions.html.

Paraxis is a new online publisher of short stories. We relish fiction with elements of the strange, uncanny or fantastic. We will be featuring new stories, reprints, artwork and essays. http://www.paraxis.org.

The Short Review – each monthly issue of the short review brings you original reviews of new, not-quite-so-new and classic collections and anthologies, written by reviewers many of whom are also short story writers themselves and who love short fiction. http://theshortreview.com/index.html.

On 25th March 2011, short story writer Sally Quilford created Anti-Conning Writers Day, in which she highlighted the pitfalls and scams that part new (and not so new) writers from their hard-earned cash. You can read Sally’s views on dodgy agents, publishers, competitions and writing services by visiting http://www.sallyquilfordblog.co.uk (which is well worth a visit anyway) and clicking on the Anti-Conning Writers Day link at the top of the page.

http://www.flashfictiononline.com is a 500-1000 word site that is free to subscribe / read, free to submit to (http://www.flashfictiononline.com/submit.html, although they’re currently closed while wading through their slushpile). Payment is via donations with 60% going to the author and 40% going to the site so there’s no way of knowing how much (if anything) you’d earn but another opportunity perhaps.

For more information like this (not just this genre) – see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page.

Every fortnight I provide my writing group with handouts of useful stuff like competitions to enter, websites to visit etc. and I thought I’d share them with you. Here are the poetry-related ones (see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page for more)…

News

The Poetry Book Society is one of the casualties of the Arts Council cuts, losing the £111,000 it received this year. The Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy is clearly angry: “This news goes beyond shocking and touches the realms of the disgusting. The PBS was established by T S Eliot in 1953 and is one of poetry’s most sacred churches with an influence and reach far beyond its membership. This fatal cut is a national shame and a scandal and I urge everyone who cares about poetry to join the PBS as a matter of urgency.” You can sign a petition to Save the PBS here: www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/save-the-poetry-book-society/2631.

Lorca Translation Competition – Writers are invited to submit an original translation of a Lorca poem of their own choice. The winner will receive £500 and the runner-up £200; a pamphlet will be published of short-listed entries. Entries must be of unpublished verse translations of poems by Lorca into English. The maximum length is 80 lines. You may enter as many poems as you wish, accompanied by the appropriate entry fee. The entry fee is £5.00 for the first poem; £3.00 each for second or additional entries. Writers under 21 years old can enter free of charge. Closing date 19th August 2011 (a very good date – my birthday :)), the 75th anniversary of Lorca’s death (oh, maybe not). Details from http://lorcainengland.org/index.html.

The Aesthetica Creative Works Competition has three sections: Art & Photography, Poetry and Fiction. Winners and finalists are published in the Aesthetica Creative Works Annual. Winners of each category receive £500 prize money plus other prizes. Entry to the Creative Works Competition is £10. The entry fee allows the submission of 2 images, 2 poems or 2 short stories. The deadline for submissions is 31st August. The guidelines for submission can be found online at http://www.aestheticamagazine.com/submission_guide.htm.

Buxton’s Word Wizards slam poetry competition runs in the coffee lounge at the Grove Hotel, Buxton, Derbyshire at 7:30pm on the last Tuesday of every month. Entry is £2.50. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Rob at: poetryslamUK@aol.com.

Active indie publisher Indigo Dreams Publishing have recently released several poetry collections including Fixing Things by Roger Elkin, A Slither of Air by Alison Lock and Whale Language: Songs of Iona by Angela Locke. They have also published Roselle Angwin’s novel Imago after the previous publisher went into receivership. Imago’s outline: It starts out innocently enough: a late summer party on a Devon riverbank, a full moon. But two things happen as a result of that night: Annie’s husband is killed, and the ‘accident’ jolts her into a 700-year-old ‘memory’ that will take her to the Pyrenees and the inferno at the heart of the Cathar inquisition, into a turbulent love affair, and towards another encounter with death. Details of all of these and more at www.indigodreamsbookshop.com. They also have an exciting future list which includes collections from Char March and Ann Pilling.

For more information like this (not just this genre) – see this blog’s ‘Useful Info.‘ page.

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Morgen With An E

Morgen Bailey is a freelance writer and blogger, writer blog designer, host of the weekly Bailey’s Writing Tips audio podcast and two in-person writing groups based in Northamptonshire, England. She is the author of numerous short stories, novels, articles, has dabbled with poetry but admits that she doesn’t “get it”, and is a regular Radio Litopia contributor. She is Chair of another local writing group (which runs the annual HE Bates Short Story Competition), belongs to a fourth, and can regularly be found on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. When she’s not researching for her writing groups, she is a British Red Cross volunteer, walks her dog (often while reading, writing or editing) and reads (though not as often as she’d like but is spurred on by her new Kindle) and somewhere in between all that she writes. Her blog, which like her, is consumed by everything writing-related, is https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com and she loves hearing from writers and readers. You can also read / download her eBooks and free eShorts at Smashwords, Sony Reader Store, Barnes & Noble, iTunes Bookstore, Kobo and Amazon, with novels to follow. She also had a quirky second-person viewpoint story in charity anthology Telling Tales. She has a writing-related forum and you can follow her on Twitter, friend on Facebook, like on Facebook, connect on LinkedIn, find on Tumblr, complete her website’s Contact me page or plain and simple, email her. Most recently she has set up http://icanbuildyourwritingblog.wordpress.com designing blog sites especially for other writers.